Original Sin Cancellation Impacts Future Spinoffs

The cancellation of Dexter: Original Sin ruined a first for the Dexter franchise that fans have been waiting years for. Even though Dexter: Original Sin season 2 was confirmed back in April, Paramount ended up canceling Original Sin in August. There were a variety of reasons for the decision, but the biggest was a financial issue: Original Sin supposedly didn’t bring in enough viewers to justify another season.

Losing Original Sin was hard enough for fans of Dexter and the prequel series, but it’s causing even more problems for other shows. There are currently four Dexter shows in total, plus a long-forgotten web-series, but there have been plans for other spinoffs. Now, however, Original Sin‘s cancellation has ruined the possibility of seeing many of them ever come to fruition.

Dexter: Original Sin’s Cancellation Is Bad News For Other Planned Spinoffs

Credit: Patrick Wymore/ ©Paramount+ with Showtime / Courtesy Everett Collection

Clyde Phillips, the original showrunner of Dexter and the creator of both Original Sin and Dexter: Resurrection, recently explained that Original Sin was supposed to be the first installment in a larger shared Dexter universe. While reacting to the sudden cancellation of Original Sin, Phillips said that he had several other shows planned.

We know of at least one spinoff Phillips was planning on making: a new series following the Trinity Killer, who was played by John Lithgow in the original Dexter. Phillips had actually finished writing the Trinity spinoff, and Lithgow had already agreed to narrate the series. Now that Original Sin has been canceled, however, the Trinity Killer spinoff is canceled too.

If the Trinity Killer spinoff, which was fully written and had John Lithgow already on board, can’t get made after Original Sin‘s cancellation, there’s almost no chance we’ll get any other Dexter spinoff shows. There’s simply no room: Original Sin covered Dexter’s early life, Resurrection has the present day covered, and Trinity was the most popular villain in the franchise.

We don’t know what other shows Clyde Phillips was planning on making in the Dexter universe, but they’re likely dead in the water too. If a show that already debuted and another that was fully written can’t get made, then preliminary ideas have no shot whatsoever. That’s a shame; we could have gotten a show about Harrison in college, one about Deb’s early police career, or really anything else.

We May Never Get Two Simultaneous Dexter Series

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Image via Paramount+

The fact that Paramount and Skydance have completely changed their minds about the “expanded” Dexter universe also robs fans of ever getting two shows at the same time. When they were originally announced, Original Sin and Resurrection were supposed to be sister shows. Many fans thought Original Sin and Resurrection would run concurrently, but that’s obviously not the case anymore.

Original Sin and Resurrection were our best chance at seeing two different Dexter shows at the same time, and the former’s cancellation means it probably won’t ever happen. That, coupled with Clyde Phillips’ comments about the Trinity Killer series and other planned spinoffs, means there may never be another Dexter spinoff, let alone one running at the same time as Resurrection.

Assuming Resurrection does continue, the best Dexter fans can hope for is one show going on for the foreseeable future. Given the long delays between seasons that often accompany shows made for streaming, that might even mean that we’ll have to wait more than a year for more Dexter. To make matters worse, the writers’ room for Resurrection supposedly hadn’t even been formed yet when Original Sin was canceled in August.

With one announcement, Dexter fans went from being hopeful about getting potentially three different shows happening at the same time for hoping for a single show to return in 2026. It’s a huge blow to the franchise and its fans. Any dreams we may have had about getting a wealth of Dexter content has been thoroughly dashed.

Will Dexter: Resurrection Season 2 Happen?

Just about the only good news that comes from Original Sin‘s cancellation relates to Resurrection. Since it’s the only Dexter show on the air right now, it looks like Resurrection season 2 is all but guaranteed. Dexter has long been a successful show for Showtime, and it’s one of the best shows on Paramount+. Paramount wants the franchise to continue, and Resurrection is the only way to do so.

As previously mentioned, the official cancellation of Original Sin also included news that Paramount was looking to fill a writer’s room for Resurrection season 2. That, combined with Resurrection‘s better viewership (compared to Original Sin), is a good sign that it will continue. The ending of Resurrection season 1 also set up a second season fairly explicitly.

All this has to be taken with a grain of salt, though. Original Sin was officially renewed before it was canceled, so Paramount may pull the rug out from under Resurrection at the drop of a hat. Clyde Phillips is also very upset about how Original Sin was treated, which could spell bad news for his relationship with Paramount and Skydance. To top it all off, Paramount and Skydance are also still trying to cut costs.

Still, on the whole, it looks like Resurrection season 2 will happen eventually. The show is a rare success for Showtime, it draws in viewers to a more expensive version of Paramount+, and it has plenty of story opportunities left to explore. It’s also the last spinoff of the Dexter franchise, which is an incredibly valuable intellectual property. Nothing’s official, especially after the cancelation of Dexter: Original Sin, but Resurrection seems safe for now.